Transportable sectional bar



Oct. 6, 1970' J. 1'. KOSKI I TRANSPORTABLE SECTIONAL BAR 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed March 25, 1968 IINVENTOR JOHN T. KOSKI ATTORNEY J. T. KOSKITRANSPORI'ABLE SECTIONAL BAR Oct. 6, 1970 Filed March 25, 1968 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOHN T. KOSK! ATTORNEY United States Patent Gee3,532,493 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,403 TRANSPORTABLE SECTIONAL BARJohn T. Koski, 225 W. Bidwell, Battle Creek, Mich. 49015 Filed Mar. 25,1968, Ser. No. 715,769 Int. Cl. A47b 96/18; A47f 9/00 US. Cl. 312-140.26 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relatesbroadly to bars for entertainment use, and more specifically to barmodules which may be transported, stored, and two or more joinedtogether to form a sectional bar for special requirements.

The social climate of the day necessitates a great deal of entertaining,both in commercial facilities such as hotels and restaurants, and inprivate homes. A natural part of this entertaining includes the servingof refreshments of various kinds to those who are present. The majorpurpose of this invention is to provide a facility for use by both adultand young people for the purpose of storing and serving refreshments.

One of the major difiiculties with most bars of any size is that theyare built permanently in place. The removal of such a permanent facilityis necessarily a major project. This is especially true where theconventional straight length bar is not involved. Another disadvantageof having a permanent facility is that it takes up space in a room whichmight be used at least part of the time for purposes other thanentertaining with refreshments. Therefore, the ideal facility would be abar having suitable construction, suificient size, and weight to befirmly set in place on a floor and still have the capability of easymovement from the position into an out-of-the-way place or storage areawhen not in use.

Attempts have been made in the prior art to provide a suitable portablebar for the purpose of filling the desired need mentioned above.Portable, sectional bars (Pat. No. 2,771,334) have been made collapsibleand may be carried from place to place on the body of the person doingthe moving. Disadvantages such as having hinged portions and carryingstraps which wear out are attendant this type of portable sectional bar.In addition, all persons do not necessarily have the capability oflifting such a portable bar.

Another type (Pat. No. 2,995,408) of sectional bar has been developedwhich is of a knock-down prefabricated variety for use in the homeUnless this particular bar is constructed and left permanently in place,its assembly and disassembly is necessitated every time its use isrequired. When it is necessary to knock down the prefabricated sectionalbar, a plurality of identical sections must be disassembled and carriedfrom the point of use to a storage area of an out-of-the-way place. Itwas a recognition of these problems and difiiculties, and the lack of acommercially acceptable solution, which led to the conception anddevelopment of the present invention.

The primary object of this invention is to overcome the attendantdisadvantages of the permanent type bar and the known portable type barswhich are presently available in the prior art.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bar module having aretractable friction reducing support means such as retractable casterswhich, when put in an extended position, provide easy movement of thebar module across the floor.

Another object is to provide bar modules which may be connected to oneor more other modules to form a larger sectional bar assembly wheredesired. Furthermore, the particular bar assembly may be of any desiredshape, e.g., a straight, circular, or sinuous configuration.

A further object of this invention is to provide connecting meanslocated at the top portion of attached modules for the purpose ofproviding a seal to prevent liquid from running down between the modulesin the event that there is spillage on the top portion of an assembledsectional bar.

A further object of this invention is to provide a bar module which maybe further equipped to provide either storage space for refreshments andcondiments or facilities such as sinks, and coolers, or both. Thisnecessarily broadens the use of the bar module during the preparation,use and cleaning up operations accompanying the serving of refreshments.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bar module of asize which is easily moved from place to place within a building throughconventional doorways, and in addition may be packed for easy shipmentand handling. At the same time, it is made sufficiently heavy so thatits weight is effective to provide firm engagement with the floor sothat an accidental jarring will not disturb any liquid refreshment plaedon top of the bar or contents within a storage area provided in the barmodule.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will appearmore fully hereinafter as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention,then, consists of the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawings and thefollowing description setting forth in detail illustrative embodimentsof the invention, such discosed embodiments illustrating, however, butseveral of various ways in which the principle of the invention may beused.

In the annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top view of an assembly of modules produced in accordancewith this invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of another assembly of modules constructed inaccordance with this invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGS. 2 and 7,looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG.2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view as taken along line 55 of FIG. 2,looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5,looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 7 is a back view of an assembly of two modules constructed inaccordane with this invention including additional service facilities.

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of an assembly two modulesconstructed in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing the caster location, as taken alongline 9-9 of FIG. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, differently shapedassemblies of modules of this invention are shown in FIGS. 1 2 and 8.Modules 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 assembled as shown in FIG. 1 comprise acircular-shaped assembly having an opening at one point in the circlefor the purpose of ingress as well as egress from the inside of the bar.An assembly of modules 18 and 19, FIG. 8, is constructed in a partialcircular shape. Another possible modification is shown in FIG. 2,wherein the attached 3 modules 16 and 17 have a sinuous construction. Inthis case, the padded edge rail 27 is made continuous, and the base ispreferably shifted to form a continuous foot rest 38 on the outside ofthe assembly.

The details of a module of this invention may be understood more clearlyfrom an examination of one specific single module, generally designatedas 16 in FIGS. 2 and 3, having a curved sectional shape and comprisingtwo side panels 20, 20, a top portion 21, a front portion 22, and anopen back portion 23. A groove 21a, commonly used to hold glasses inwhich a beverage is being mixed, is located at the inside edge of thetop portion 21. A padded edge rail 27 is attached to a rail mountingportion 37, FIG. 5, on the outside edge of the top portion 21 by way ofa bolt 34 and spacer 33. The bolt 34 runs from the rail mounting portion37 through spacer 33 into a rail beam 30 on which a rail covering 28 ismounted by way of anchoring means 31 and 32. The rail covering 28 holdsthe rail padding 29 in place on the rail beam 39. The spacer 33comprises a core 35, FIG. 6, and a covering 36. The covering of thevarious portions of the module 16 is chosen to provide durability and tobe food and drink resistant. The top portion 21 may be varnished wood,but is prefer" ably covered with plastic, vinyl or other suitablematerial. A foot rest 38 including an overhanging toe kick portion 39 islocated at the bottom of the front portion. This construction providesfoot space at floor level for a person standing at the bar in additionto a foot rest 38 at an elevated position.

Five casters 40, FIG. 9, are mounted at the bottom of the module 16 withtwo located on adjacent end panels -20, and one adjacent the center ofthe projecting front of the module. Each caster 40 has a conventionalfoot kick 41, FIG. 7, for the purpose of adjusting the caster in eitheran extended position for transporting the module, or a retractedposition for holding the module in fixed location. Casters 40, FIG. 7,are shown in extended position and attached to the module 16 viamounting means 42.

The module 16 is preferably of such a size as to be packed for shipmentin substantially rectangular boxes 30 inches wide and of a height ofabout 42 inches and maximum length of the particular bar module itself.The size is further preferably limited to permit stacking two highduring shipment and for allowing easy passage through a conventional 32inch doorway without the necessity of uncrating. However, if the doorwaywas somewhat narrower, the module can be uncrated and worked through thedoorway on a curve, since the actual width of the top in preferredconstruction is only about two feet.

The module 16 preferably has a weight of approximately 200 pounds tomake it very stable. To provide additional weight when necessary, theinside of the module 16 may be conventionally provide with any suitableweighing material, such as concrete or metals (not shown). Thisweighting material, for instance, may be placed inside of foot rest 38,FIG. 5, or even on shelves 43, or the like, if desired. The primaryconcern is for the module 16 to have sufiicient weight to providestability and a solid engagement with the floor.

The open back portion 23, FIG. 7, may be variously modified asdiagrammatically illustrated, wherein the modules of the assembly mayinclude storage shelves 43, a cooling unit 44 and a sink 45 with washwater receiving tank 46. If desired, faucets (not shown) may beconventionally provided on the top portion 21 for delivery of variousliquid refreshments.

The module 16 is easily attached to another module. A typical junctionof two attached modules is fragmentarily shown in FIG. 4 wherein boltsextend from one module side portion 20, through a soft gasket material24, such as sponge rubber, and through another module side wall portion20. The bolts 25 may be firmly anchored in place by means of wing nuts26. The gasket material 24 prevents the flow of liquid between themodules in the event of liquids being spilled on or used to clean thetop portion 21.

While this invention has been shown with reference to the very specificembodiment illustrated in the drawings, it will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that it is susceptible to various other changes andmodifications without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A bar module comprising:

(a) a generally vertical arcuate front wall portion, side wall portions,a top portion having a curved front edge generally corresponding to thecurvature of said front wall portion, and an open back portion;

(b) a retractable friction reducing support means having a firstposition and a second position, said means including rollable membersmounted at the bottom of said front and side wall portions forcontacting a floor surface to provide easy movement of said moduleacross such surface when said means is in one of said positions andretracting out of contact in the other position of such means;

(c) said module having a total weight and weight distribution effectiveto provide a free-standing structure in either of the said positions ofsaid retractable means, and a physical size sui'ficiently small to allowfree movement thereof through conventional doorways.

2. A bar module as defined in claim 1 wherein said module has weightingmeans incorporated therein, thereby providing added weight to the moduleto improve its stability.

3. A sectional bar comprising:

(a) at least two modules, each module having a front wall portion, sidewall portions, a top portion and an open back portion;

(b) friction-reducing support means having an opera tive position and adisabled position, said means mounted at the bottom of said front andside wall portions of each of said modules for providing easy movementthereof across a surface when in said operative position;

(c) means for connecting said modules together, said means located onsaid side wall portions, said connecting means including a gasket meansto prevent flow of liquid between said modules, and

(d) wherein said module has weighting means incorporated therein,thereby providing added weight to the module to improve its stability.

4. A sectional bar as defined in claim 3 wherein said modules arearcuate in shape.

5. A sectional bar as defined in claim 3 wherein each of said moduleshas a weight and a weight distribution effective to make each afree-standing unit.

6. A sectional bar as defined in claim 3 wherein said gasket means is ofcompressible soft gasket material such as sponge rubber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,771,334 11/1956 Wahlbom312-140.2 2,808,305 10/1957 Jackson 312-1402 2,995,408 9/1961 Kobrin312140.2 3,009,752 11/1961 Margulis 312-1402 X 3,356,434 12/1967Theodores 312250 3,365,258 1/1968 Downing 312---140.2

CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 312-250

